49 CFR 392.60 - Unauthorized persons not to be transported.

(a) Unless specifically authorized in writing to do so by the motor carrier under whose authority the commercial motor vehicle is being operated, no driver shall transport any person or permit any person to be transported on any commercial motor vehicle other than a bus. When such authorization is issued, it shall state the name of the person to be transported, the points where the transportation is to begin and end, and the date upon which such authority expires. No written authorization, however, shall be necessary for the transportation of:

(b) This section shall not apply to the operation of commercial motor vehicles controlled and operated by any farmer and used in the transportation of agricultural commodities or products thereof from his/her farm or in the transportation of supplies to his/her farm.

The listening session will be held on Monday, April 24, 2017, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., e.t. Comments will be accepted from in-person participants as well as comments submitted via the Internet. If all interested participants have had an opportunity to comment, the session may conclude early. Public Comments: Comments on this notice must be received on or before July 17, 2017.

49 CFR Parts 383, 391, 392, 395 and 396

Summary

FMCSA announces that it will hold a public listening session on April 24, 2017, to solicit information on issues relating to the design, development, testing, and deployment of highly automated commercial vehicles (HACVs). The listening session will provide interested parties an opportunity to share their views and any data or analysis on this topic with Agency representatives. FMCSA will transcribe all comments and place the transcripts in the docket referenced above. FMCSA will webcast the entire proceeding.

FMCSA amends its regulations by making technical corrections throughout. The Agency is making minor changes to correct errors and omissions, ensure conformity with Office of the Federal Register style guidelines, update cross references, and improve clarity and consistency of certain regulatory provisions. Further, this set of amendments removes all remaining instances of the term “common carrier” and “contract carrier” as required by the ICC Termination Act (ICCTA) and the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). This rule does not make any substantive changes to the affected regulations, except to remove obsolete provisions.

Effective Dates: The effective of this rule is July 28, 2016. The effective date of the rule published at 80 FR 63695 (October 21, 2015), is delayed until January 14, 2017, and §§ 365.T106, 368.T3, and 390.T200 are effective until January 13, 2017. The corrections to the rule published October 21, 2015 (80 FR 63695), are effective on January 14, 2017. The effective date of the rule published at 78 FR 52608 (August 23, 2013) is further delayed until January 14, 2017. Compliance Dates: The compliance date for the rule published at 80 FR 63695 (October 21, 2015), is delayed until January 14, 2017, and new applicants must comply with §§ 365.T106, 368.T3 or 390.T200 (as applicable) until January 13, 2017; private hazardous material carriers and exempt for-hire carriers must comply with § 387.19 or § 387.43 (as applicable) by April 14, 2017; and all entities must comply with § 366.2 by April 14, 2017.

49 CFR Parts 360, 365, 366, 368, 385, 387, 390 and 392

Summary

FMCSA is correcting the effective and compliance dates for its August 23, 2013, Unified Registration System (URS) final rule, as revised on October 21, 2015. The 2013 URS final rule was issued to improve the registration process for motor carriers, property brokers, freight forwarders, Intermodal Equipment Providers (IEPs), hazardous materials safety permit (HMSP) applicants, and cargo tank facilities required to register with FMCSA, and streamline the existing Federal registration processes to ensure the Agency can more efficiently track these entities. The October 21, 2015 final rule made slight revisions to the 2013 rule and delayed the effective dates of that rule. This final rule corrects the effective and compliance dates, revised in 2015, and corrects regulatory provisions that have not yet gone into effect, as well as several temporary sections that are in effect already, to allow FMCSA additional time to complete the information technology (IT) systems work.

This final rule is effective July 22, 2016. Petitions for Reconsideration must be received by the Agency no later than August 22, 2016.

49 CFR Parts 365, 381, 383, 390, 391, 392, 393, 395, and 396

Summary

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) adopts, as final, certain regulations required by the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) enacted on December 4, 2015. The statutory changes went into effect on October 1, 2015, retroactively, and require that FMCSA make conforming changes to its regulations to ensure they are current and consistent with the statutory requirements. Adoption of these rules is a nondiscretionary, ministerial action that FMCSA may take without issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking and receiving public comment, in accordance with the good cause exception available to Federal agencies under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

FMCSA corrects an error in its June 7, 2016, final rule “Driving of Commercial Motor Vehicles: Use of Seat Belts.” The amendatory language in the final rule inadvertently limited the applicability of the requirement for drivers to use their seat belts to operators of property-carrying vehicles. Today's correction fixes the error such that drivers of passenger-carrying vehicles will continue to be required to wear their seat belts.

This rule is effective August 8, 2016. Petitions for Reconsideration of this final rule must be submitted to the FMCSA Administrator no later than July 7, 2016.

49 CFR Part 392

Summary

FMCSA revises the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) by requiring passengers in property-carrying commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) to use the seat belt assembly whenever the vehicles are operated on public roads in interstate commerce. This rule holds motor carriers and drivers responsible for ensuring that passengers riding in the property-carrying CMV are using the seat belts required by the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSSs).

FMCSA proposes to revise the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) by requiring that passengers in property-carrying commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) use the seat belt assembly whenever the vehicles are operated on public roads. This rule would hold motor carriers and drivers responsible for ensuring that passengers riding in the CMV are also using the seat belts required by the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSSs).

Effective Dates: The effective date of this rule is September 30, 2016, except for §§ 365.T106, 368.T3, and 390.T200, which are effective from December 12, 2015 through September 29, 2016. The effective dates of the rule published at 78 FR 52608 (August 23, 2013) are delayed until September 30, 2016. The withdrawal of Instruction #1 from the correction published at 78 FR 63100 (October 23, 2013) is effective October 21, 2015. Compliance Dates: The compliance date for this rule is September 30, 2016, except that: New applicants must comply with §§ 365.T106, 368.T3 or 390.T200 (as applicable) from December 12, 2015 through September 29, 2016; private hazardous material carriers and exempt for-hire carriers must comply with §§ 387.19 or 387.43 (as applicable) by December 31, 2016; and all entities must comply with § 366.2 by December 31, 2016. Petitions for reconsideration must be received by November 20, 2015.

49 CFR Parts 360, 365, 366, 368, 385, 387, 390 and 392

Summary

FMCSA delays the effective and compliance dates for its August 23, 2013, Unified Registration System (URS) final rule. Because FMCSA changes the effective date (the actual date when the regulatory text that appears in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) will be changed) and makes technical corrections and conforming amendments to the 2013 regulatory text, the Agency has determined that it is in the best interest of the regulated entities, our State partners and the general public to present the full text of the sections affected. The 2013 URS final rule was issued to improve the registration process for motor carriers, property brokers, freight forwarders, Intermodal Equipment Providers (IEPs), hazardous materials safety permit (HMSP) applicants and cargo tank facilities required to register with FMCSA, and streamline the existing Federal registration processes to ensure the Agency can more efficiently track these entities. Today's final rule delays the implementation of the 2013 final rule in order to allow FMCSA additional time to complete the information technology (IT) systems work required to fully implement that rule.

This final rule is effective December 18, 2014. Petitions for Reconsideration of this final rule must be submitted to FMCSA Administrator no later than January 20, 2015.

49 CFR Parts 392 and 396

Summary

FMCSA rescinds the requirement that commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers operating in interstate commerce, except drivers of passenger-carrying CMVs, submit, and motor carriers retain, DVIRs when the driver has neither found nor been made aware of any vehicle defects or deficiencies. This rule also harmonizes the pre- and post-trip inspection lists. It responds in part to the President's January 2011 Regulatory Review and Reform initiative, removing a significant information collection burden without adversely impacting safety. The Agency also makes a technical change to § 396.11 to eliminate redundant language.

Effective October 2, 2014. The incorporation by reference of certain publications listed in the rule is approved by the Director of the Federal Register in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51 as of October 2, 2014.

FMCSA amends its regulations by making technical corrections throughout title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), subtitle B, chapter III. The Agency is making minor changes to correct errors and omissions, ensure conformity with Office of the Federal Register style guidelines, update references, and improve clarity and consistency of certain regulatory provisions. This rule does not make any substantive changes to the affected regulations.

2013-10-01; vol. 78 # 190 - Tuesday, October 1, 2013

78 FR 60226 - Amendments To Implement Certain Provisions of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21)

Effective Date: This final rule is effective Tuesday, October 1, 2013. Petitions for Reconsideration must be received by the Agency no later than December 2, 2013.

49 CFR Parts 350, 381, 383, 384, 385, 386, 387, and 392

Summary

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) adopts, as final, certain regulations required by the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century surface transportation reauthorization legislation. The majority of these statutory changes went into effect on October 1, 2012, while others will go into effect on October 1, 2013. It is necessary to make conforming changes to ensure that FMCSA's regulations are current and consistent with the applicable statutes. Adoption of the rules is a nondiscretionary ministerial action that can be taken without issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking and receiving public comment, in accordance with the good cause exception available to Federal agencies under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

FMCSA and PHMSA amend the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) and Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMRs), respectively, to prohibit a driver of a commercial motor vehicle or of a motor vehicle transporting certain hazardous materials or certain agents or toxins (hereafter collectively referenced as “regulated motor vehicle”) from entering onto a highway-rail grade crossing unless there is sufficient space to drive completely through the grade crossing without stopping. This action is in response to section 112 of the Hazardous Materials Transportation Authorization Act of 1994, as amended by section 32509 of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). The intent of this rulemaking is to reduce highway-rail grade crossing crashes.

Effective Dates: The final rule is effective October 23, 2015, except for § 390.19 (amendatory instruction number 55) and § 392.9b (amendatory instruction 61), which are effective November 1, 2013, and except for § 366.2 (amendatory instruction 19), which is effective April 25, 2016. Compliance Dates: The compliance date for this final rule is October 23, 2015, except that the compliance date for §§ 390.19 and 392.9b is November 1, 2013, and the compliance date for § 366.2 is April 25, 2016. Petitions for reconsideration must be received by September 23, 2013.

49 CFR Parts 360, 365, 366, 368, 385, 387, 390 and 392

Summary

The FMCSA amends its regulations to require interstate motor carriers, freight forwarders, brokers, intermodal equipment providers (IEPs), hazardous materials safety permit (HMSP) applicants, and cargo tank facilities under FMCSA jurisdiction to submit required registration and biennial update information to the Agency via a new electronic on-line Unified Registration System (URS). FMCSA establishes fees for the registration system, discloses the cumulative information to be collected in the URS, and provides a centralized cross-reference to existing safety and commercial regulations necessary for compliance with the registration requirements. The final rule implements statutory provisions in the ICC Termination Act of 1995 (ICCTA) and the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, 2005 (SAFETEA-LU). The URS will streamline the registration process and serve as a clearinghouse and depository of information on, and identification of, motor carriers, brokers, freight forwarders, IEPs, HMSP applicants, and cargo tank facilities required to register with FMCSA.

FMCSA proposes to rescind the requirement that commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers operating in interstate commerce, except drivers of passenger-carrying CMVs, submit, and motor carriers retain, driver-vehicle inspection reports when the driver has neither found nor been made aware of any vehicle defects or deficiencies. This proposed rule would remove a significant information collection burden without adversely impacting safety. This proposed rule responds in part to the President's January 2011 Regulatory Review and Reform initiative. Finally, this proposed rule harmonizes the pre- and post-trip inspection lists.

This final rule makes technical corrections throughout title 49 CFR subtitle B, chapter III. The Agency is making minor editorial changes to add revised delegations of authority from the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary), correct errors and omissions, and improve clarity. This rule does not make any substantive changes to the affected parts of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs).